Device for releasably engaging a wheel axle or other type of member

ABSTRACT

A releasable wheel assembly for golf cart includes a bracket member attached to lower end of a leg member of a golf cart, a wheel set having a wheel rotatably mounting on an axle mechanism having an axle laterally extending into the bracket member and a locking member extending transversely into the bracket member and being slidably secured therein by means of a rivet for releasable engagement with the axle to secure the wheel set to the bracket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONFIELD OF APPLICATION

The present invention relates to an assembly for releasably attachingwheels to a golf cart a device for releasably engaging a member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION—DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

There are presently available for use a wide variety of types of wheelassemblies for golf carts. many means for the releasable attachment of amember. Such means of attachment are frequently used to attach, forexample, wheel sets to a golf cart. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a knowngolf cart wheel assembly includes a bracket 1 pivotally connected tolower end of a leg 2. The bracket 1 carries a sleeve 11 which defines acentral passage extending transversely relative to the golf cart. A nut12 is secured to a side wall of the sleeve 11 by means of welding anddefines a screw passage inwardly communicating the central passage ofthe sleeve 11 through an opening (not shown) formed in the side wall ofthe sleeve 11. A wheel 3 rotatably mounting on a stub axle 31 which isformed with a recess 311 and inserted into the sleeve 11. Said stub axle31 is secured in position within the sleeve 11 by means of a clamp screw13 which extends through the nut 12 and opening in side wall of thesleeve 11 into the central passage with a protruding end thereofengaging the recess 311 of the axle. A coil spring 14 mounts between theclamp screw 13 and the nut 12 for facilitation of retracting the clampscrew 13.

The known wheel assembly resides on the following defects:

(1) For attachments of the sleeve 11 and nut 12 to the golf cart,welding is necessary that results being labor consuming and relativelyexpensive in manufacture of this wheel assembly; and

(2) In mounting operation, it is time consuming that the clamp screw 13should be threaded into the central passage of the sleeve 11 andcorrespondingly engaging the recess 311 of the axle 31.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a primary an object of the present invention to providean improved wheel assembly for a golf cart which can diminish thedefects and disadvantages of a known wheel assembly.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a wheel anassembly for use with, among other types of devices, a golf cart with animproved construction that is easy in assembly and cheap inexpensive inmanufacture.

With the above objectives in view, a releasable wheel assembly for golfcart includes a bracket member attached to a lower end of a leg of agolf cart, a wheel set having a wheel rotatably mounting on an axlemechanism having an axle and laterally extending into the bracket memberand a locking member extending trasversely into the bracket member andbeing slidably secured therein by means of a rivet for releasableengagement with the axle to secure the wheel set to the bracket.

In accordance with this invention, there is provided a releasableengaging device for engaging an engageable member. The device compriseshousing means. In addition there is provided locking means coupled toand movable with respect to the housing. The locking means has at leastone first aperture extending therethrough to receive the engageablemember. The locking means is movable from at least first to a secondposition with respect to said housing. With the locking means in thefirst position, the engageable member is freely insertable in the firstaperture. With the locking means in the second position the lockingmeans engages the engageable member so as to hold the engageable memberwith respect to the housing. Resilient means are provided forresiliently urging the locking means from the first position to thesecond position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a known golf cart;

FIG. 2 is a perspective and exploded view of a known wheel assembly fora golf cart;

FIG. 3 is a partially cross-sectional view of the known wheel assemblywhich is in assembled condition;

FIG. 4 is a perspective and exploded view of a preferred embodiment of awheel assembly for golf cart according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the wheel assembly shown in FIG. 4with a wheel removed;

FIG. 6 is a transversely cross-sectional view of a bracket to be used inthe wheel assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged and partially cross-sectional view taken alongline a—a in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a transversely cross-sectional view of the bracket showing anaxle in a state ready for removing the wheel; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged and partially cross-sectional view taken alongline b—b in FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIGS. 4 to 6, there is shown a releasable engagingdevice for engaging an engageable member. The releasable engaging deviceincludes housing means, which may be, for example, a bracket 4, and anengageable member, such as an axle 31. The engageable member may bereleasably engaged by means of locking means which may include, forexample, a locking member 5, operatively connected to the bracket 4, asmore fully discussed below. Thus, there is provided a wheel assembly fora golf cart according to the present invention. The releasable engagingdevice includes a housing or bracket 4 formed with a mounting slot 40which extends upwardly inwardly and is equally divided by a partition 41for firmly receiving lower end portions of two parallel legs 2 by meansof rivets, a wheel set 3 having a wheel 32 rotatably mounting on an axlemechanism which has an axle 31 circumferentially formed with a anindentation or groove 312 and extending axially outwardly and a lockingmember 5 extending transversely into the bracket 4 and being slidablysecured therein by means of a rivet 46and forming together a releasableengagement device for releasablyreleasable engagement with the axle 31so as to secure the wheel set 3 to the bracket 4.

Said bracket, or housing, 4 has a lower solid portion 47 transverselyformed with a passage 42 which has a recess 43 extending from one sideof the solid portion 47 so as to form an outwardly facing annularshoulder 431 near its inner end. Bores 44, 45 are formed in a side wallof the bracket 4 to define passages inwardly communicating andperpendicular to the passage 42 for respectively receiving the axle 31and joining means such as pin-like rivet 46 wherein at least the bore 44extends through the solid portion 47.

The locking member 5 has a key 52 in the form of a an elongated plateformed with spaced apertures or slots 521, 522 and an enlargement, head,or flange 51 attached to outer free end of the key 52 for pressing thelocking member 5 to move with a finger. Apertures 521 and 522 are formedalong a major axis of key 52. The first slot 521 is elongated anddimensioned to allow a relative movement between the key 52 and rivet 46along a longitudinal direction of the key 52 and the second slot 522istear drop in circumferential configuration and is dimensioned to allowthe axle 31 passing through the key 52 from an outer side portion 524 oflarger diameter and the groove 312 of the axle 31 being engaged by aninner side portion 523 of smaller diameter.

In assembly, as best shown in FIG. 6, a resilient coil spring 53 issleeved on the key 52 and accommodated in the recess 43, the key 52 ofthe locking member 5 is inserted into the passage 42 and slidablysecured therein by means of the rivet 46 which extends through the boreor passage 44 of the bracket 4 and slot 521 of the key 52. The lockingmember 5 then can be pressed to locate the slot 522 in a position wherethe outer side portion 524 of the second slot 522 corresponds to thebores 45 and the wheel set 3 is secured to the bracket 4 by insertingthe axle 31 thereof into bores 45 of the bracket member 4 and the slot522 of the key 52. The axle 31 thus arranged is secured in position bythe locking member 5 when the locking member 5 is released that allowsthe compressed coil spring 53, which is disposed between the shoulder431 of the recess 43 and the flange 51 of the locking member 5, to biasthe locking member 5 to move outwardly that resulting a firm engagementbetween the groove 312 of the axle 31 and the inner side 523 of thesecond slot 522, as best shown in FIGS. 6 & 7.

In operation for removing the wheel set 3, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9,the flange 51 is pressed with finger to overcome biasing force of thecoil spring 53 and move the locking member 5 inwardly, the inner side523 of the second slot 522 is disengaged from the groove 312 and theaxle 31 is located within the outer side portion 524, the wheel set 3can be removed by retracting axle 31 from the bracket 4. The rivet 46serves as a guider for locating slot 522 of the key 52 of the lockingmember 5 in assembly and disassembly operations of the wheel set 3.

Various changes and modifications can be made in this constructionwithout departing from the spirit of the invention. Such changes andmodifications are contemplated by the inventor and he does not wish tobe limited except by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A releasable wheel assembly comprising: a bracketmember having a solid end portion formed with a transverse passageextending from a side wall towards another side wall opposite to theside wall and first and second openings communicating and perpendicularto the transverse passage; means for securing the bracket member to alower end of a leg of a golf cart; a wheel set including an axle formedwith a circumferential groove and extending laterally into the trasversetransverse passage through the first opening of the bracket member and awheel rotatably mounting on the axle; a locking member having a platemember adapted to move in a telescopic fashion within the transversepassage including a movement range between a fist position and a secondposition and a flange member attached to an outer end of the platemember; a first slot formed in the plate member and dimensioned to allowpassing through of a rivet member, which extends through the firstopening of the bracket member for securing the plate member of thelocking member in the transverse passage and enabling the locking memberto move with the movement range; a second slot formed in the platemember and having a first side portion dimensioned to allow passingthrough of the axle through the second opening and a second side portiondimensioned to engage the groove of the axle, said first position of theplate member of the locking member locates the first side portion of thesecond slot corresponding to the second opening of the bracket memberand said second position locates the second side portion of the secondslot corresponding to the second opening of the bracket member.
 2. Areleasable wheel assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bracketmember has a mounting slot extending upwardly inwardly for receivingsaid lower end of the leg of the golf cart.
 3. A releasable wheelassembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transverse passage in thesolid portion of the bracket member has a recess extending from one sideof the solid portion so as to form an outwardly facing annular shoulderfor accommodating a coil spring between the annular shoulder and theflange of the locking member with a biasing force of the coil springtending to move the plate member of the locking member from the firstposition into second position.
 4. A releasable engaging device forengaging en engageable member comprising: a) housing means; b) lockingmeans coupled to and movable within said housing means; said lockingmeans having a first aperture extending therethrough; said aperture ofsaid locking means being within said housing for receiving therethroughthe engageable member; said locking means being movable between a firstand a second position with respect to said housing; with said lockingmeans in said first position the engageable member being freelyinsertable in said first aperture; with said locking means in saidsecond position said locking means engages the engageable member so asto hold the member with respect to said housing; c) said locking meanshave a second aperture extending therethrough; d) joining means, securedto said housing means, for extending through said second aperture so asto retain said locking means slidably within said housing; and e)resilient means for resiliently urging said locking means from saidfirst position to said second position.
 5. The device of claim 4 whereinsaid housing means having a first passage for receiving the engageablemember therein; said first passage intersecting said first aperture. 6.The device of claim 5 wherein said housing means having a secondpassage; said locking means being movable within said second passage. 7.The device of claim 6 wherein said locking means comprises a lockingmember slidable within said second passage from between said firstposition and said second position; said locking member having a free endthereof accessible from outside of said housing means so that theengageable member may be manually moved between said first and secondpositions.
 8. The device of claim 7 wherein said resilient means engagessaid housing and said locking member so as to urge said locking memberinto said second position.
 9. The device of claim 8 wherein saidresilient means comprises a spring.
 10. The device of claim 9 whereinsaid spring is a coiled spring, about said locking member, and withinsaid second passage.
 11. The device of claim 10 wherein said joiningmeans comprises a pin-like member secured to said housing means, passingthrough said second passage and said second aperture to hold saidlocking member within said second passage.
 12. The device of claim 11wherein said locking member comprises means for retaining said springwithin said second passage.
 13. The device of claim 12 wherein theengageable member having an indentation for receiving said lockingmember to thereby lock the engageable member to said housing.
 14. Thedevice of claim 4 wherein the engageable member having an indentationfor receiving said locking means to thereby lock the engageable memberto said housing.
 15. The device of claim 13 wherein said first apertureis substantially tear-shaped so that, with said locking member in saidfirst position, the engageable member passes easily through the largerportion of said tear-shaped first aperture and, with said locking membermoving into said second position, the narrower portion of saidtear-shaped first aperture engaging said indentation to engage saidindentation.
 16. The device of claim 14 wherein said first aperture issubstantially tear-shaped so that, with said locking means in said firstposition, the engageable member passes easily through he larger portionof said tear-shaped first aperture and, with said locking member movinginto said second position, the narrower portion of said tear-shapedfirst aperture engaging said indentation to engage said indentation. 17.The device of claim 15 wherein said second aperture is elongated so thatsaid pin-like member guides said locking member movement between saidfirst and second position.
 18. The device of claim 17 wherein saidhousing means comprises a housing; said locking member is elongated withsaid first and second apertures being arranged along said locking membermajor axis with said second aperture disposed between said firstaperture and said free end of said locking member; said locking memberbeing held movably within by at least a part of said second passageway;said free end having a head; said second passageway having a shoulder;said spring being about said locking member and resting upon saidshoulder; the opposed end of said spring engaging said head to urge saidlocking member outwardly such that to remove the engageable member fromsaid housing said locking member is manually depressed, removing saidfirst aperture engagement of said indentation to thereby permit removalof the engageable member from said housing.
 19. The device of claim 18wherein the engageable member is cylindrical and said indentation is acircumferential groove.